Squid Ink

Dusty Springfield was the image of Swinging Sixties Britain with her blonde beehive hairdo, panda eyes make-up and stylish dress sense. I remember hers being one of the first voices I heard on the radio when I was much younger. Something about it drew me in even at that young age and has remained with me ever since. Looking back now, I'm sure it was the intensity and soulfulness of her singing that made me a fan and, no doubt, led to my future musical preferences. Throughout the decade she...

Recently I joined SquidUtils.com to help promote my Squidoo articles and discovered their utility to build Amazon links. I find them much easier to use than other link building programmes. To use it you need to be an Amazon affiliate, but you can join up for free and you can then earn royalties on all sales. With SquidUtils, all you have to do is to enter the (ASIN) number of the item you want to feature in the box. Under that is a box for your affiliate ID. You can choose an individual code,...

Collecting vintage linens is a great way to collect something that is also useful. From vintage tablecloths to vintage handkerchiefs, the range of vintage linens is amazing. I love vintage linens. The fabric designs from the 1940s and 1950s are some of my favorites. Vintage Tablecloths The fabric in vintage tablecloths can be charming, beautiful, or downright funny. Collecting vintage tablecloths is a great hobby that many people enjoy. Vintage tablecloths can be used as their original...

Many people have some niche market pages among their list, that is, articles that relate to a specific topic or product. Like me, when you started writing online to earn money, you threw out articles, writing about everything that took your fancy. Down the road you realise you have 200 of them and are earning pennies. That is when you take stock and realise the way to go is niche marketing – in narrowing your writing to make it easier for people AND search engines to find it. One way to do...

When it comes to Halloween songs, do you prefer the spooky variety the scary ones, the classic fun music or maybe some rock songs? Whatever your choice, finding some suitably bewitching songs at Halloween can be harder than you think. Christmas is easy, but Halloween is a little tougher. Yes, there are the standards such as The Monster Mash or The Time Warp from The Rocky Horror Picture Show, but what if you are looking for something a little different? Rock and pop music celebrities are...

I am fascinated by the work of Jim Shore, an American folk art artist of contemporary collectibles. He is a contemporary artist whose work is steeped in American folk art traditions. He was raised in South Carolina in a family of artists, including his artistic mother, his father who was a furniture craftsman, and his grandmother, a master quilt maker. Jim Shore creates collectible figurines made of resin that resemble hand carved wood. His figures always incorporate a quilt pattern...

The much anticipated debut album from Matt Cardle, Letters, is released in the UK on October 14, 2011. It's lead off single will be Run For Your Life, a song written by Gary Barlow, which Cardle will perform on the latest series of The X Factor. It is due to hit shops on October 10, although iTunes shows an expected date of October 7. The rest of the tracks, bar last year's Christmas Number One song When We Collide, have either been written by Cardle himself or as collaborator. It seems that...

A couple of months ago, I added a post about using PR7 "do follow" site Folkd as another good place to bookmark lenses, blogs or whatever one feels relevant to their online presence. As well as reading AJ's wonderfully helpful posts about back linking, I've also been doing a little research of my own, particularly about sites I haven't seen mentioned elsewhere. Just recently, I discovered what might be another great haven for parking your links, My Link Vault. My research about the site isn't...

For some years, April has been something of a tough month for me. I usually approach it with trepidation, anticipating the mixed emotions the month brings forth. This year was no different, but as we approach the month's end, some things have happened to offset those anxious moments and shed a more positive light. I've always known that both the Squidoo and Crabbysbeach communities are the best out there, and some events have happened during this month which only confirm those feelings of...

A couple of days ago, I sent a begging note to Alex asking him if he would install a plug-in to allow poll questions to be added to blog posts. Not a few hours later, there it was and I think I'm about to get poll crazy. Thanks, Alex! Just in case you haven't visited the Plug-in area of your blog recently, there's a new one called Polldaddy Polls. It's really easy to set up: First go to Polldaddy.com and set up an account (I chose the free version, for now). Then come back to your blog and activate the plug-in using your username and password. You will then be prompted to create a poll, if you

I have to thank my brother for another near coffee/keyboard incident this morning, when I opened up my e-mail and read this. If you're not into risque humour, please do not read on. If you are, move your coffee now! Joe wanted to buy a motorbike. He didn't have much luck until one day when he came across a Harley with a 'for sale' sign on it. The bike seemed even better than a new one, although it was 10 years old. It was shiny and in absolute mint condition. He immediately bought it, and...

When I lived in England, one of the "big" social events was the Pub Quiz. This entailed trying to grab as many unwilling friends as possible to form a team to try and answer questions on some of the more bizarre and cryptic subjects the quiz master could find. So, it was with a wry smile, that I discovered Squidoo's SquidQuiz, and wondered how I could put it to good use. In fact, I knew about it, as I'd helped Bonnie with a few questions for her British Slang Quiz, but had forgotten it was...

I haven't been a part of the Squidoo community for very long, but I am quickly learning what a wonderfully caring and supportive bunch of people it really is. A few days ago, I published my Living With Leukemia lens, and I have been deeply touched by the response and comments it has received. There are not a lot of times when I am stumped for words, but on this occasion, there does not seem to be sufficient words for the way I want to express my gratitude to everyone who has taken the time to...

I finally got my tentacles wet, and boy, did it feel good! Yep, I'm officially a Squid. With trepidation, I hit the "publish" button yesterday, more than a year after joining Squidoo. I guess if you're going to procrastinate, you might as well do it well! So, here's my contribution to February 14th: The Best Music For Valentine's Day using that cool new template. Enjoy © 2010, Richard. All rights reserved. Submit this to Script & Style Share this on Blinklist Share this on del.icio.us Digg this! Post this on Diigo Share this on Reddit

I was recently doing some research about bookmarking and backlinks, as I've learnt that this is one of the most important aspects to anyone's online success, particularly one's earning potential. What's more difficult to find are those bookmarking sites that allow dofollow backlinks. If you want to find out more about increasing your backlinks with dofollow sites, lensmaster Pixelrage has created a very useful Squidoo lens on the subject. One site I didn't see listed on his lens is one called folkd.com. What's so special about this site? Well, apart from allowing you to bookmark any web page at